Definitely Off Limits
by Miana
Summary: Rowena and Godric explore the Forbidden Forest to discover what it hides.


Disclaimer: J.K Rowling owns all of it.

* * *

"We are not lost."

Rowena Ravenclaw rolled her eyes and let a small sigh escape her lips. Godric was a proud man; the first to enter battle and the last to leave. He held his head high as if he was nobility wherever he went, yet was a kind and gentle man at heart. He held his friends in a high level of respect, even the women, and was not afraid to admit when he was wrong.

Unless they were lost.

"We have already passed that tree three times," Rowena pointed out. She pulled the reigns of her mare tightly, bringing it to a halt. She patted her horses' neck and waiting as Godric came up beside her. He had a frown plastered on his face, looking around at his surroundings then back at his companion.

"All the trees look the same. What makes you so certain that we have passed this one?"

Rowena withheld a smug smile. She knew Godric admired how intelligent she was, but he hated it when she out thought him. As innocently as she could make her voice sound, she said, "I've been marking the tree every time we passed it. Look near that knoll; there's three lines."

His brows furrowed once more, then Godric turned his eyes back to the tree. Sure enough, there were three neat lines carved into the bark beneath a mossy knoll.

Godric sighed heavily, defeat written on his face. Shaking his head, he dismounted his horse. "They need a break," he announced with a sigh. "We've been pushing them needlessly in circles."

Rowena bit her lip to stop from smirking, yet gave an encouraging smile when Godric eyed her. She unhooked her leg from the horn of the saddle then waited as Godric came to her side. She knew full well how to dismount on her own, yet Godric threw a fit every time he caught her doing it, claiming she would hurt her ankles or that the horse would take off while she was not holding on. She smiled to herself as she remembered his declaration that he would always help her down from horseback so that she would never be harmed.

She waited until he reached up and grabbed her waist before slipping her left foot out of the stirrup. Leaning down and bracing herself on his shoulders, she slid from the saddle to the ground. She gave him a warm smile as he helped her descent, knowing full well that now was not the time to tease him about his traditions and views on how things should be done.

"There's a stream just south of here," he said, heading back and taking the reigns of his steed. "They can at least get refreshed while we figure out which direction to go."

"And in the meantime," Rowena added as she grabbed her set of reigns as well , "we can continue observing the forest. During that last circle, I am confident that I saw unicorns."

Godric cracked a small smile. "Helga will be delighted to hear that, unless she and Salazaar have already stumbled across their own herd."

The forest near the lake had gained the curiosity of the small pack of wizards who had begun construction on a castle nearby. Urban tales created by the non-magical humans nearby included stories of people entering the forest and never returning. The stories ranged from demons to werewolves and other magical creatures, thus intriguing the four. They had taken a day to ride into the forest and learn of what secrets the forest held.

Hoping to cover more ground, they had split up. Godric and Salazaar had both adamately refused when Helga suggested that she and Rowena go off on their own. Instead, Rowena had gone off with Godric and Helga had gone with Lord Slytherin. As much as she adored Helga, however, the forest's eerie presence made Rowena glad that she had not gone with her friend.

They soon found the stream, letting the horses drink from it and nibble on nearby grass. Rowena found a mossy log and seated herself while Godric pulled a skin of wine and a small loaf of bread from a satchel tied to his saddle. He seated himself beside Rowena then offered her the skin first.

"So, in addition to the unicorns, how many creatures does that put us at?"

"Six, I believe," Rowena answered after taking a drink and handing the skin back to him. "Seven if you want to count the spiders."

Godric shrugged and took a drink also. "They could have just been abnormally large spiders," he offered as he replaced the stopper in the skin.

Rowena arched a dark eyebrow. "'Abnormally large?' They were easily the size of my palm."

Godric gave a small bark of laughter then looked around them at their surroundings. "It's a magical forest; you don't know how that might affect normal creatures."

"That is true," Rowena conceeded. "At any rate, I am happy that we stumbled across the elves."

Godric gave a small groan and shook his head. "They annoyed me."

"They were sweet!" Rowena protested. "They may not be the cutest creature to look at, but they were honest and sincere. I can't believe they offered to work at the school for the sole price of living there."

"For free," Godric finished, raising a golden eyebrow at her. "Is that not defined as slavery?"

"Slavery is not voluntary," Rowena shot back, crossing her arms over her chest. "They said living in the school was beyond any payment they could receive and working would be the least they could do. Too many of them were being killed by werewolves."

Godric winced, eyeing the forest once more. "It worries me that the stories of werewolves here is true. We shall have to make certain that the students do not venture here on full moon."

"Or any time, if our expedition today shows us other harmful creatures," Rowena offered. A sudden chill ran down her spine as she thought of the possibilities. She reached inside her left sleeve and touched her wand, ensuring that it was still there. It comforted her to know that it was within reach if needed.

Godric, on the other hand, did not think it enough to bring his wand. His ruby encrested sword rested sheathed at his hip, ready for use in a moment's notice. After the werewolf comment, Rowena noticed that his hand had drifted down toward the scabbard and currently was resting on the hilt of the sword.

Her eyes followed his arm up to his face. Godric was not an ugly man; battle had toned his body into a firm and fit form, topped by a strong jaw with a golden goatee and moustache and a pair of pale blue eyes. A small scar stuck out on his chin; a harsh reminder of the war he had fought in early in his life.

A shriek from the horses brought her out of her thoughts with a gasp. Godric was already on his feet with his hand on his sword, but remained frozen with his eyes wide. Rowena snapped her gaze to the horses and let out a shriek.

Both horses were laying on the ground, bleeding from the throat. She felt bile rise in her throat at the sight, turning her head away to try to press down the urge to vomit. She heard a sickening rip and turned her eyes back, pulling out her wand as she did.

Her heart began racing as she saw chunks of her mare being ripped out, blood and entrails splattering to the ground. However, there was nothing there. The pieces floated in midair before disappearing. She eyed Godric in fear, not knowing what to do. He held a horrified yet amazed look on his face, unable to take his eyes off of them.

Rowena felt herself begin to shake in fear; this was a new enemy. Something that could take down a large beast, yet remain invisible?

She barely felt as Godric grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him, Rowena pressing up against his back in fear as she peaked around his shoulder to watch. "What's happening?"

Godric shook his head in disbelief. "I've never seen or heard of these creatures before."

"What creatures?" she hissed, looking around in fear that they were sneaking up on them.

"What do you mean, 'what creatures?'," Godric snapped, "The creatures that are currently eating our horses!"

"You can see them?" Rowena asked in fear.

"Of course I can see them! They're right…" Godric stopped, turning his gaze over to her. "You can't see them?"

"I see nothing but the horses, which are currently being…" she had to stop as another wave of bile rose in her throat.

Godric turned back to the invisible phantoms, wonder on his face. "Amazing. Could it possibly be a creature that only males can see?"

"It's possible, however unlikely," Rowena pondered.

"Well then, what do you think it is?" Godric snapped, iritated that she turned down his idea so quickly.

"I haven't the slightest idea," she answered with a shake of her head. "What do they look like?"

"It looks like a… Well, a…" Godric cocked his head to the side, a puzzled visage spreading over his face. "It has a horses body. However, the head resembles some sort of reptile. A serpent or a dragon of some sort. And it has wings."

"Wings."

"Yes. Like a Pegasus."

"And will it hurt us?"

Godric's expression quickly turned to fear. He held his sword ready with his right hand, then used his left to reach behind and grab Rowena's. "I am not sure, but I don't want to find out the hard way." He began moving back slowly, holding tightly to Rowena's hand. She held her wand ready, yet felt ridiculous doing so as she could not even see the enemy.

A creature Godric could see yet she could not? It puzzled and intrigued Rowena. This was unheard of until now. Non-wizards had so many ghost stories that the more Rowena thought about it, the more sense it made. Most stories talked about feeling like something was there but seeing nothing, while others talk about seeing something that wasn't there. Perhaps this creature could begin to explain –

"Run!"

Godric's yank on her arm brought Rowena out of her thoughts. She stumbled slightly then began running with all of her might as fear swept her. She dared not look behind her as Godric led her on. Her heart began to race and tears sprung to her eyes as she waited for the inevitable moment when the creatures would attack.

Yet it never came. Godric finally pulled her behind a cluster of boulders, scanning the area with his sword ready. Rowena threw herself against the rock and squeezed her eyes shut. After a moment, she heard Godric sheath his sword and felt him take her arm gently. She turned and clutched his tunic, burying her face into the fabric as she tried to calm her sobs.

He wapped his arms around her and held her tightly, leaning his head against hers. "We are safe for now. They are not following us."

It took Rowena a few minutes to ebb her sobs, calming herself until she was down to a sniffle. Godric lifted her chin up to look at him, using his thumb to wipe away the last few tears on her cheeks. "You're safe," he said reassuringly with a smile.

"This forest is most definitely off limits," she said in a hoarse voice.

Godric gave a hearty laugh and kissed her forehead. "I certainly agree. Now," he began, looking around, "Where are we?"

"Trespassing," came a deep male voice.

Rowena gave out a small yelp at the voice. They spun around to see a man standing behind several bushes. His hair was long and matted and he wore no tunic. He did not look dangerous; just annoyed.

"Forgive me, Sir." Rowena apologized. "You startled me."

Godric's hand was already resting on the hilt of his sword. "Do you live in these woods, Good Sir?" he addressed the man.

"This part of the forest belongs to me and my people," the man answered. "And you are trespassing," he added with annoyment.

Godric gave a low bow of his head. "Forgive us then, Good Sir. We did not know that anyone lived here. We were exploring the forest to discover what treasures we might find within it, and we lost our way."

"Humans have no sense of direction," the man said with a scoff.

The comment puzzled Rowena. She eyed Godric and saw that he had caught it as well. However, he asked the more pressing question. "If you please, Good Sir, could you point us in the direction back toward the lake so as we might return to our home?"

"So it is you who are constucting up on the hill," the man said with recognition.

"Yes," Rowena found her voice once more. "We are constructing a school for children to learn how to use their magical abilities."

"Magical abilities," the man said with a scoff. "Humans have had magic for such a little time. Centaurs' powers have been learned for centuries."

Rowena blinked. "Centaurs?"

Finally, the man stepped forward from the bushes. Rowena stepped back in slight fear as he did. While from the torso up, he looked human, the rest of the man's body was that of a horse. She tried not to stare but could not help it. She had never seen a real centaur and was awed by him.

Godric too was amazed, however he first corrected their rude behavior. "Forgive us, Good Sir. We have heard tales of your kind, but never before had the priviledge to meet a Centaur."

Flattery seemed to help ease the centaur's annoyance. "There are over a hundred of my people living in this forest. I, like many of them, spent our foalhood here in these trees. I was born here as my great-grandsire was. I am called Roaul."

Godric finally removed his hand from the hilt of his sword, taking a small bow. "It is a great honor to meet you, Sir Roaul. I am Godric Gryffindor and this is the Lady Rowena Ravenclaw."

The centaur made no bow yet nodded his head. "Come, I shall lead you back to the forest path."

They fell into step beside him, Rowena unable to take her eyes off of the creature. Centaurs were smaller than she has imagined; many books and stories made them out to be giant creatures, yet their size was more similar to their horse relatives.

"Tell me, Sir Roaul," Godric was asking, "we lost our way in the forest for we ran across a strange creature. It ate our horses and would have attacked us as well had we not gotten away."

Roaul frowned. "There are several I can think of that would take down a large animal. What did it resemble?"

"A horse with wings and the face of a reptile," Godric answered. "What puzzled us was that while I was able to see it, Lady Rowena was not."

"Threstals," Roaul answered. "They are carnivores, but are usually not harmful. They can smell blood from miles away."

"How do they choose whom to appear invisible to?"

"They do not; death does."

Rowena frowned at the statement. "I do not understand. How does death decide who can see them."

"The war," Godric mused to himself. He eyed Roaul. "Only those who have seen death can see them?"

The centaur nodded. "A gift and a curse. Those who can see them wish they could not, and those who cannot are foolish to wish they can."

"I still don't understand," Rowena spoke up. "I have seen dead beings before. How is that so different?"

"Have you ever watched anyone die?" Godric asked somberly.

Rowena finally understood. She shook her head and looked down. "No."

"I pray, Lady Rowena," Roaul spoke up, "That you shall never have to." He stopped as he came into a clearing, a dirt path snaking through the woods. "This shall lead you to the lake."

"We thank you for your help, Sir Roaul," Godric said with a small bow. "I give you my word that we shall do all in our power to ensure that your family and your lands remain protected and untouched."

At this, the centaur gave a small bow. "My people do not like to associate with humans, but I shall tell them of your kindness and your promise. I hope your school and our people can live in peace." He then turned and left.

Rowena felt Godric take her hand. "Come. Let us get back to the castle and pray that Helga and Salazar made it out as well."

Rowena nodded in agreement and let herself be led by Godric. She caught up to his pace and matched his stride, yet she noticed his a small smile that he still held firmly to her hand.


End file.
